Ryan Merriman

Ryan Merriman
Ryan Merriman, 2007
Born	Ryan Earl Merriman April 10, 1983 (1983-04-10) Choctaw, Oklahoma, US
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1993–present

Ryan Earl Merriman (born April 10, 1983) is an American actor. He began his acting career as a child actor during the mid-1990s and has appeared in several feature films and television shows.

Background

Merriman was born in Choctaw, Oklahoma, the son of Earl and Nonalyn Merriman. He has a sister, Monica. At a young age, he began acting in commercials, print work, vocal performances, and local theater (Stage Struck Studios) in Oklahoma.

Career

Merriman's first major role was on the television series, The Mommies, which ran from 1993 to 1995. He is also known for his movie Luck of the Irish, which premiered on the Disney Channel. During the mid and late 1990s, he appeared in most episodes of The Pretender as a younger version of the title character. Merriman also starred in several made-for-television films, including Smart House, The Luck of the Irish, and as a young Meyer Lansky in Lansky. In 1999, he appeared in the feature film The Deep End of the Ocean, playing the lost son of Michelle Pfeiffer's character, and subsequently starred as the main character, a Jewish boy from the Bronx, in the film Just Looking, which received a limited theatrical release in 2000. In 2002, he played the Madeleine L'Engle character Adam Eddington in yet another Disney Channel original movie, A Ring of Endless Light. In the years following, Merriman again returned to television roles, and appeared in Dangerous Child, co-starring Delta Burke, the mini-series Taken (2003–04), and a guest role on Smallville in 2004.

During Merriman's career, his roles also included the horror films Halloween: Resurrection (2002), The Ring Two (2005) and Final Destination 3 (2006). He is one of the stars of Home of the Giants, a high school drama co-starring Haley Joel Osment and Danielle Panabaker which has yet to be released. He appeared in the CBS mini-series Comanche Moon, in January 2008. He also played the lead role of Henry Dunn in the original pilot presentation for Harper's Island, but was replaced by Christopher Gorham when the pilot was ordered to series by CBS.

In 2012 he starred on the 16th episode of Season 2 in Hawaii Five-0 as Dennis Mack.

Dwight H. Little wanted Merriman to play Jin Kazama in his movie Tekken, but Merriman turned it down, so the role went to John Foo. He did, however, star in the Hallmark Channel original movie Elevator Girl as the male protagonist Jonathan, the young successful lawyer who finds himself falling for a free-spirited young woman who is way below his pay grade. In 2011, he starred in The 5th Quarter, a feature film about the surprising 2006 football season of Wake Forest University, as the team's star linebacker Jon Abbate.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1997	What's Right With America	Todd Gordon
1998	Everything That Rises	Nathan Clay	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie/Pilot/Mini-Series or Series – Leading Young Actor
1999	Night Ride Home	Justin
1999	Lansky	Meyer Lansky
1999	The Deep End of the Ocean	Sam Karras, Ben Cappadora	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Supporting Young Actor
1999	Smart House	Ben Cooper
1999	Just Looking	Lenny Levine	Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor
2000	Rocket's Red Glare	Todd Baker
2001	The Luck of the Irish	Kyle Johnson
2001	Dangerous Child	Jack Cambridge	Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie or Special – Leading Young Actor
2002	Halloween: Resurrection	Myles Barton
2002	A Ring of Endless Light	Adam Eddington
2003	Spin	Eddie Haley
2005	The Colt	Jim Rabb
2005	Rings	Jake	Short film
2005	The Ring Two	Jake
2006	Final Destination 3	Kevin Fischer	lead role alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead
2007	Home of the Giants	Matt Morrison
2008	Backwoods	Adam
2009	Wild Cherry	Stanford
2011	The 5th Quarter	Jon Abbate
2012	My Hometown	Rick Dickson	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993–1995	The Mommies	Blake Kellogg	Twenty-nine episodes Nominated — Young Artist Award for Outstanding Youth Ensemble in a Television Series (shared with Sam Gifaldi, Ashley Peldon, Shiloh Strong, and Joey Zimmerman)
1995	The Client	Jeff Dietrich	"The Way Things Were"
1996–2000	The Pretender	young Jarod / Gemini	Forty-nine episodes Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series – Supporting Young Actor (1997) Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series – Supporting Young Actor (1998, 1999)
2001	Touched by an Angel	Jason Harris	"Visions of thy Father"
2002	Taken	Sam Crawford	"Acid Tests" Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie, Mini-Series or Special – Supporting Young Actor
2004	Smallville	Jason Dante	"Velocity"
2003–2004	Veritas: The Quest	Nikko Zond	Thirteen episodes
2008	Comanche Moon	Jake Spoon	Three episodes
2010	Elevator Girl	Johnathan
2010–2011	Pretty Little Liars	Ian Thomas	Recurring role

References

2012 Hawaii Five-0

External links

• Ryan Merriman's official website
• Ryan Merriman at the Internet Movie Database